BERTOLT BRECHT “Art is not a mirror with which to reflect reality but a hammer with which to shape it.”

BERTOLT BRECHT One of the giants of the theatre in the 20th century. A poet and playwright, Brecht was born in 1898 in Germany. Brecht was 16 when the 1st World War broke out. This was a period of significant turmoil, uncertainty and change. Rejecting the standard theatrical drama, which focused on the emotional identification of the audience with the hero, Brecht wanted his audience to think about moral and social behavior. Brecht’s Epic theatre included the elevation of the moral, social or political message over the exploration of character. Another of Brecht's principle theories is known as “distancing” or “making strange”, making the familiar seem foreign and thus compelling the audience to view it in a new light.

BACKGROUND Erwin Piscator – early 1920s left wing director who developed the idea of Epic Theatre sought to make the stage respond to the political battles of the moment plays included documentary and didactic material Bertolt Brecht – appropriated the term “Epic Theatre” in the mid 1920s plays were fictional rather than documentary; they were intended to be models (in the laboratory sense) of human interaction

Periods of Brecht’s writing The early period: The plays are humorous, in a rather bleak and cynical way, and present social and political questions, attacking bourgeois values. The Threepenny Opera. The Lehrstücke (1928-1930) short, parabolic pieces. Didactic in nature. Mature period Episodic, narrative theatre. Meta theatre. Includes Mother Courage and her children, The Caucasian Chalk Circle.

EPIC THEATRE Dramatic theatre has a plot or story. We go to the theatre expecting the plot to be laid out before us and all issues to be resolved at the end. Epic theatre doesn’t attempt this neatness. Brecht felt that audiences should learn to be emotionally uninvolved: If the spectator watched objectively, he or she could then think objectively. An absence of empathy The narrative starts and ends, leaving issues unresolved, confronting the audience with questions about what they’ll do. An inspiration to action instead of entertainment. Shows an argument. It’s a clear political statement. The audience remains objective and watches a montage or a series of scenes. Standing outside the action emotionally, the audience can study the story objectively and should recognise social realities.

Brecht…. wanted his audience to react rationally rather than emotionally so built his plays on a non-linear storyline, with each scene standing on its own, which often avoided a climax; thus the spectators were denied a catharsis. introduced verfremdungseffekt and would employ a number of distancing devices, some borrowed from oriental theatre, such as direct address to the audience; stylized speech; the insertion of songs in sharp contrast to the surrounding dialogue; a narrator or a chorus; miming and masks. The audience were reminded that they were in a theatre: Open light Source of music visible Half tabs partially concealed scene changes stylized speech, including rhyming, free and blank verse

VERFREMDUNGSEFFEKT To Brecht, realism and the styles of acting that had developed in response to Stanislavski's System and the Method seemed dull and bourgeois. Epic Theatre heralded a return to the idea of the actor as the presenter. Emotions are externalised; actors frequently comment on their characters or on the action. The actor may also function as a narrator, addressing the spectators directly. This is the crux of the Verfremdungseffekt, drawing on techniques from classical and medieval theatre; Replacement of the question 'How do I feel?' by 'Have I ever seen it?'; Elimination of the fourth wall: actors do not try to re-create reality; The use of various techniques to maintain freshness and objectivity in characterisation, including swapping roles in rehearsals, rehearsing in dialects or accents, and speaking parts in the third person, using the 'he said', or 'she said'. Brecht’s view is that actor should not impersonate, but narrate actions of another person, as if quoting facial gesture and movement.

ELEMENTS OF EPIC THEATRE Episodic structure Montage Verfremdungseffekt Breaking the fourth wall Direct address Narrator or chorus Multirole Insertion of songs in sharp contrast to the surrounding dialogue Juxtaposition of scenes – humour vs serious theme Introducing scenes using projections or captions Placards Speaking the stage directions Showing the workings of theatre – changing on stage, lights up in the auditorium Spass Gestus

EXERCISES Narration Nursery Rhyme Statue Clarity Putting elements together

Reflection Reflect on the lesson and activities done and answer the Brecht questions on Moodle: Who is Bertolt Brecht and why is he important in the history of theatre? Describe the Brechtian exercises that you did today. What was the purpose of the exercises and did they help you with that in mind? EVALUATE How could you use these techniques when creating theatre? Do wider reading on Brecht / look at additional resources on Moodle, on the internet and in the LIC – develop your knowledge!